Louis takes point-scoring positives from F2 races at Monza

Louis Delétraz scored his best results of the 2017 FIA Formula Two Championship season at Monza, Italy this weekend (1-3 September) as he raced to a pair of point-scoring finishes – only missing a Sprint Race podium by 1.7 seconds.

The rookie made another impressive performance step in only his second event with the Rapax squad and was immediately on the pace at the super-fast Autodromo Nazionale Monza where drivers are on the throttle for 78% of the lap and speeds peak at 330kmh.

A podium finisher during his last three visits to Monza in other junior racing categories, Louis put down an impressive early marker as he drove to 9th fastest during Friday’s Practice session. But when he took to the 5.793km track later that afternoon for qualifying, Louis made another impressive leap forward.

Louis’ determined approach enabled him to set the third fastest time in his ADS Securities-sponsored car and he ended the session only 0.257s shy of pole position. The 20-year-old was delighted that he would line up for Saturday’s Feature Race on the second row of the grid.

“I had a really good feeling with the car straight away and I knew we were in the game. I had a really good balance with the car and for once I felt like I had a good lap and the time matched that feeling as I crossed the line,” Louis explained.

With heavy rain showering Monza with water for much of Saturday and delaying the race schedule, the start of the F2 Feature Race was delayed by more than two hours.

When the action did finally get underway, Louis found himself racing on Pirelli’s wet weather tyres for the first time in his short F2 career. Although he struggled for grip and confidence, he felt his way into the battle and a clean race was rewarded with a P7 finish as the daylight started to fade.

“It was a chaotic race in some difficult conditions. I had a very strong front end of the car but the rear couldn’t follow and I had a lot of oversteer,” he said. “That made it hard to find a lot of confidence. Okay, it’s not the optimum position to go from P3 to P7 but I pushed as hard as I could in the conditions while also making sure I survived.

“I definitely think my pace in the rain is something I can improve and I know that will come with more experience of running in those types of conditions.”

With the top-eight Feature Race places being reversed to generate the grid for the Sprint Race, Louis lined up on the front row of the grid for the first time as an F2 driver on Sunday morning.

When the race started, Louis slotting into P2 before striking and taking the lead of the race a couple of laps later with a neat DRS pass at Turn One. That’s where he stayed for the next eight laps before he started to suffer with severe front tyre degradation – something that would compromise his pace in the closing stages.

Although he fought bravely for the remaining 10 laps, Louis couldn’t maintain his pace and dropped to third as the race drew to a close. Then, on the penultimate lap, Fuoco slipped through at the second chicane and relegated Louis down to P4.

Although he was disappointed that he missed out on his first F2 podium by only 1.7 seconds, Louis was pleased to score 14 championship points in Monza and to show that he is capable of dictating the pace in F2.

“When I got into the lead, my only chance was to push and break out of the DRS zone,” Louis explained. “I managed to do that but unfortunately I think I pushed a bit too much and had some understeer on the front. I got a lot of degradation from the front tyres so I tried to save my tyres but that enabled the others to catch me again. With DRS they were 25kmh faster than me and overtook.

“Obviously, I’m disappointed that I didn’t get a podium but I feel I made a massive step with my new team in Monza. I definitely feel like I’m getting back to my best and being able to lead an F2 race for eight laps in my first season is a positive for me, especially when you compare to where we were at the start of the season.”

“It’s clear from he outside that everything’s working well and I’m happy to be driving more naturally. I’m looking forward to taking this form into the races at Jerez and Abu Dhabi because I think we can do good things at those tracks.”